What's in a name?

Anyone with a basic familiarity with the history of the celebrated Sunspel (http://www.sunspel.com) name will know that, rather than referring to the entire company that has been operating since 1860, the term was once simply used for its number one underwear brand. Indeed, the original company was known at first by the name of its founder, Thomas Hill. The firm's present name, though, is somehow befitting, given its dramatic impact over the years on the way in which underwear is made and sold across the planet.

The Hill name remained a familiar one throughout the company's initial century or so of operation, given the passage of control through a succession of descendants. But the original Thomas Hill was a man who had become the chief Nottingham partner in I&R Morley - the then-market leader in Britain for quality clothing ranging from knitwear to underwear and hosiery - by his thirties. Passionate about textile innovation and sensing the need for a new challenge, he boldly set up his own company so that he could pursue his dream of bringing quality over quantity to an ever-greater audience.  

The fledgling company didn't take long to establish a formidable reputation for the creation of exceptional British clothing from supremely soft and lightweight fabrics. Hill himself built a reputation as an underwear pioneer, with his experiments centred on making his firm's clothing as comfortable as possible to wear close to the body. These are principles that still stand Sunspel in good stead today, and which were perpetuated across the world, well into the new century, by successive Hills.

At some point, though, the company underwent its first name change, becoming Sea Island Textiles Ltd - a reference to the Gossypium Barbadense plant that originates from South America and has been grown in the West Indies since the 15th century. In 1786, it began to be planted on the sea islands of South Carolina, and the spectacular quality that was achieved soon made it a mainstay of the British aristocracy. It was used for Queen Victoria's handkerchiefs, for example. Sunspel has its own strong history with Sea Island cotton, having used it for its earliest garments in Quality 14 Cellular Fabric in the 1930s.

By 1937, with the business moving from Nottingham to Long Eaton, it was decided that the company would also be given a new name, adopting that of its most successful underwear brand made from some of the most exclusive Sea Island cotton. That name was Sunspel, and the term remains to this day synonymous with timelessly stylish, unfussy and highly wearable heritage clothing, encompassing not only underwear but also T-shirts, polo shirts, knitwear, trousers, sweats, sleepwear and more.

Sea Island Cotton, meanwhile, remains one of Sunspel's (http://www.sunspel.com) most sought-after brands of quality mens clothing, demonstrating the company's successful incorporation of its past expertise into a product range that remains absolutely relevant to life in 2013.

Editor’s Note: Sunspel (http://www.sunspel.com) are represented by the search engine advertising and digital marketing specialists Jumping Spider Media. Email: info@jumpingspidermedia.co.uk or call: +44 (0)20 3070 1959 / +34 952 783 637.